The team intends to develop an environment for a new public aural experience. Entitled “Sensorium Audio Theatre”, the project stems from research on immersive educational environment to enhance students’ concentration. However, it goes much farther.
The first model of the Sensorium was the effect of the author’s traineeship at Stanford University’s CCRMA Institute in 2014 (Palo Alto, 2014). Its first edition was developed on request of "The Castle" Culture Centre in Poznań (Poland). The sound installation filled the monumental, disused, empty space of the Clock Tower situated in the very heart of the city. Following the first Sensorium model, a bolder idea of a new, immersive environment of public experience of music germinated.
The Sensorium essentially consist in transposition of the structure and dynamics of visitor’s emotional psychophysical reactions upon musical structures in a direct “live” experience. The objective is to create a musical environment which will let one hear their psycho-physical reactions, experience (through composed music) their changeability, as well as comprehend the possibility of exerting control over them.

The work in this “Sensorium Audio Theatre” residency was developed by Rafał Zapała, a composer of contemporary and experimental music (at the Telematics Workshop of the Academy of Music in Poznań) in collaboration with FutureLab powered by Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center. The project originated in research on the immersive educational environment to enhance students’ concentration.

The idea of “Sensorium" stems from numerous artistic and scholarly traditions. Intended to reveal interdisciplinary character, it is imbued with the spirit of holistic and integral perception of human emotions, intellect and physiology. It is supposed to merge well-balanced artistic, scientific and technological, as well as psychological aspects. “Sensorium” is an intimate, one-person experience of "anti-mass" character. It essentially consists in the transposition of visitor’s emotional psychophysical reactions into musical structures in a direct “live” experience. The objective was to create a musical environment to let one hear their psycho-physical reactions, experience (through-composed music) their changeability, as well as comprehend the possibility of exerting control over them. One of the final results of the residency is a concept for educational workshops for young people entitled "SAMOUSPOKAJANIE" [Self-Appeasement], which will become a permanent entry on FutureLab’s offer. Exploring the immersive educational environment to enhance students’ concentration was from the start one of the aims of the team. Connecting art of musical composition with bio- and neurofeedback technology has great potential to benefit education, psychology and other areas.

The collaboration undertaken under this residency helped Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center leverage its previous experience in ICT projects for new purposes and use the research equipment and techniques in new scenarios. The co-creation process and interdisciplinary meetings in FutureLab helped to redefine the priorities of the "PSNC Media Lab" and thus introduce its new name and new activity as an "PSNC Art&Science Lab". The results of this residence, together with the developed "SAMOUSPOKOJENIE" workshop, will become part of the permanent laboratory agenda in the second half of 2020.

Interview with Rafal Zapala at CENTQUATRE-Paris, during the STARTS Residencies Days 2020

Read the final report